CLINTON'S MISSILE DECISION: THE NEXT PRESIDENT; Missile Defense Issue Lands in the Middle of the Gore-vs.-Bush Campaign

Most White House decisions these days factor in Vice President Al Gore's campaign for president, and the announcement today that there would be no decision now on missile defense deployment was no exception.

An adviser to the vice president said Mr. Gore had taken an active part in the decision-making process of many months by ''phone, fax or Leon'' -- referring to the vice president's national security adviser, Leon Fuerth.

''The vice president has always been aware of the president's thinking on this, and vice versa,'' the adviser said.

Besides taking into consideration things like unsuccessful tests on missile interceptors or concerns about a renewed arms race, Mr. Clinton also factored in the presidential election, White House aides said.

''One way or another this will be an issue in the campaign,'' said a senior official involved in the crucial meetings. ''We'd probably be criticized for any decision. We wanted to get this decided early so that everyone knew what the context was as the campaign unfolds.''

Mr. Gore and the Republican presidential nominee, Gov. George W. Bush, each welcomed today's announcement, but from different perspectives. Mr. Gore praised the action in a three-page statement issued minutes after the announcement, but he took pains to say that it was ''the president's decision.''

Mr. Gore left some uncertainty as to whether a Gore administration would start building a defensive shield. He said the presumed threat of a missile attack from North Korea or Iran was by no means certain, and did not necessarily require the construction of an elaborate and costly shield.

But Mr. Gore said he would continue to test the feasibility of such a system and would go ahead with deployment of a land-based system if he was ''fully convinced'' that the technologies were ready. Adopting the White House view, Mr. Gore has said he would seek to modify the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty, which bans such missile defenses, instead of scrapping it altogether.

Mr. Bush said he would welcome the chance as president to make the decision on deployment, but he wasted no time in criticizing ''the Clinton-Gore administration'' for the announcement even though he had warned the White House earlier in the campaign not to take any actions that would tie his hands if he wins.

''President Clinton and Vice President Gore first denied the need for missile defenses, then delayed,'' Mr. Bush said in a one-paragraph statement. ''Now they are leaving this important unfinished business for the next president.''

At a news conference at the airport in Texarkana, Ark., Mr. Bush added, ''The administration missed an opportunity to develop a missile defense system that will protect all 50 states, protect ourselves and our allies from accidental launch or political blackmail.''

Mr. Bush has backed a more extensive system based on land, at sea and possibly in space that would protect the United States and its allies in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The Republican platform adopted in Philadelphia last month backed ''robust missile defenses'' and criticized the White House for becoming ''hopelessly entangled in its commitment to an obsolete treaty signed in 1972.''

He had grave doubts about the technology. He was concerned about the overseas response. Most of all, his aides said, he did not want to be the one who risked scrapping the system that got the United States through the cold war for what might turn out to be nothing more than a wing and a prayer.

So Mr. Clinton punted the decision to his successor and, in the process, set up a clear point of contrast between the two men seeking to be the next president.

It might have helped Mr. Gore, White House aides said, if Mr. Clinton had gone forward with such a shield, inoculating him against accusations of being soft on defense. But it might prove more beneficial for Mr. Gore that Mr. Clinton has opted to stay out of the decision, allowing the vice president to explain his own thinking on a complicated national security matter.

''It allows the vice president, in an area he knows a lot about, to shape the debate,'' said a senior Clinton aide. ''The president is stepping aside on this. The vice president can now step forward.''

The president's timetable for deciding the issue this fall grew out of campaign politics -- but it was Mr. Clinton's own campaign in 1996, not Mr. Gore's current one.

Republicans were hammering Mr. Clinton for not backing a missile shield, so the president, as he has done on so many issues, adopted a middle course between those convinced that a missile shield is the future of American security policy and those who consider it a sham.

By choosing a multibillion-dollar test of a missile defense, Democrats sought to neutralize the Republican refrain that they are soft on defense. Strategists in both parties see the concept as a winner among voters. Indeed, experts say, there is a widespread -- but erroneous -- belief among Americans that there is already a missile shield in place.

-------------------- Missile Talks at U.N.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 (Reuters) -- President Clinton's decision on missile defense today came the week before meetings at the United Nations, and it should take the heat out of some of them.

On Wednesday, Mr. Clinton is to meet President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, and he is also likely to talk with the Chinese president, Jiang Zemin, both of whom opposed plans for a missile shield.

The issue will also be the theme of discussions between Strobe Talbott, the deputy secretary of state, Georgi Mamedov, the Russian deputy foreign minister, in New York on Monday. The next day, Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright is to hold talks with Foreign Minister Igor S. Ivanov, also at the United Nations.